Now, a
University of Utah engineer and colleagues in Ohio have developed a tiny
prototype microphone that can be implanted in the middle ear to avoid such
problems.

The
proof-of-concept device has been successfully tested in the ear canals of four
cadavers, the researchers report in a study just published online in the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers journal Transactions on
Biomedical Engineering.

The
prototype – about the size of an eraser on a pencil – must be reduced in size
and improved in its ability to detect quieter, low-pitched sounds, so tests in
people are about three years away, says the study’s senior author, Darrin J.
Young, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the
University of Utah and USTAR, the Utah Science Technology and Research
initiative.

The study
showed incoming sound is transmitted most efficiently to the microphone if
surgeons first remove the incus or anvil – one of three, small, middle-ear
bones. U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval would be needed for an
implant requiring such surgery.

(April 30,
2012) Patients
can successfully pull their medical images from the “cloud” making it faster
for them to distribute them to their physicians regardless of where those
physicians might be, according to a preliminary report of an image share
project that involves five different academic institutions.

The image
share project includes the University of California, San Francisco, University
of Chicago, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, the University of Maryland in
Baltimore, and the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, NY.

“The
patient can arrange with their radiologists’ office to have their images and
the radiology reports exported into an Internet-based personal health record
(PHR),” said David Mendelson, MD, principal investigator of the image share
project. Once the information is in the personal health record, the patient has
full control over distribution of the images and reports. Images can be viewed
immediately online by signing into one’s PHR. In addition, e-mail links can be
sent to physicians allowing them to view and download the images and reports as
needed, said Dr. Mendelson.

MIT
researchers find a way to make glass that’s anti-fogging, self-cleaning and
free of glare.

(April 26,
2012) One of the
most instantly recognizable features of glass is the way it reflects light. But
a new way of creating surface textures on glass, developed by researchers at
MIT, virtually eliminates reflections, producing glass that is almost
unrecognizable because of its absence of glare — and whose surface causes water
droplets to bounce right off, like tiny rubber balls.

The new
“multifunctional” glass, based on surface nanotextures that produce an array of
conical features, is self-cleaning and resists fogging and glare, the
researchers say. Ultimately, they hope it can be made using an inexpensive
manufacturing process that could be applied to optical devices, the screens of
smartphones and televisions, solar panels, car windshields and even windows in
buildings.

The
technology is described in a paper published in the journal ACS Nano,
co-authored by mechanical engineering graduate students Kyoo-Chul Park and
Hyungryul Choi, former postdoc Chih-Hao Chang SM ’04, PhD ’08 (now at North
Carolina State University), chemical engineering professor Robert Cohen, and
mechanical engineering professors Gareth McKinley and George Barbastathis.

* VIA INTELIGENTE, pioneer in the manufacture
of intelligent pavements, presents iPavement as a standard product that uses
the street as a platform.

* Its international presentation will take
place in Dubai at The International Building & Construction Show, The Big
5.

iPavement™ will be manufactured in Spain by VIA
INTELIGENTE from June 2012. It will be the new generation of intelligent
pavement, with an operative system, Apps and sensors will provide the streets
with functionalities and communications for the city’s inhabitants.

iPavement,
through VIACITIES OS, integrates services such as plans of cities and public
transport, leisure, virtual libraries, business promotions, in addition to
access to the Internet and information about the main events in the city. This
is possible by using WiFi wireless technology and Bluetooth to send messages
directly to mobile phones and tablets, in accordance with the “Intelligent
Environments Pavement Standard.”

It has two
formats – Classic and Accessible, the latter of which fulfils the regulation of
universal accessibility, and is foot-sensitive (grooved) for the blind or the
visually impaired.

This being
so, the firm would then approach investors to raise the £250m needed to take
the project into the final design phase.

"We
intend to go to the Farnborough International Air Show in July with a clear
message," explained REL managing director Alan Bond.

"The
message is that Britain has the next step beyond the jet engine; that we can
reduce the world to four hours - the maximum time it would take to go anywhere.
And that it also gives us aircraft that can go into space, replacing all the
expendable rockets we use today."

* Already in series production in some
electric cars and for Audi Q5 hybrid Quattro

Resenburg / Nuremberg / Vienna. Smaller,
lighter, and more powerful – those are the attributes that characterize the
latest generation of power electronics, developed by the international
automotive supplier Continental for electric drive train applications. In
figures, the highly integrated module has a continuous power of 20 kilowatts at
a weight of only eight kilograms and just five liters of space. Mass and volume
are about 33 percent less than in the previous generation. This was possible
due to the integration of two modules: The inverter and the DC-DC converter are
now assembled in a single housing.

(April 26, 2012) They say
you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, this is not always true.
Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN-KNAW) have now
discovered how the adult brain can adapt to new situations. The Dutch
researchers’ findings are published on Wednesday in the prestigious journal
'Neuron'. Their study may be significant in the treatment of neurodevelopmental
disorders such as epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia.

Ability to
learn

Our brain
processes information in complex networks of nerve cells. The cells communicate
and excite one another through special connections, called synapses. Young
brains are capable of forming many new synapses, and they are consequently
better at learning new things. That is why we acquire vital skills – walking,
talking, hearing and seeing – early on in life. The adult brain stabilises the
synapses so that we can use what we have learned in childhood for the rest of
our lives.

(April 26, 2012) A research team at Karolinska Institutet has succeeded
in describing the structure and function of the outermost layer of the skin -
the stratum corneum - at a molecular level. This opens the way not only for the
large-scale delivery of drugs via the skin, but also for a deeper understanding
of skin diseases.

"You
could say that we've solved the puzzle of the skin barrier, something that has
great potential significance for dermatology," says principal investigator
Lars Norlén, associate professor at Karolinska Institutet's Dermatology and
Venereology Unit.

Ultra fast,
robust, stable, and high precision: these are some of the characteristics of a
new laser developed by an international research team. This ultra-small laser
paves the way for a new generation of highly powerful, ultra-stable integrated
lasers. Professor Roberto Morandotti and his team at the INRS Énergie Matériaux
Télécommunications Research Centre played a leading role in the design of this
versatile laser that recently made the front page of the prestigious scientific
journal Nature Communications.

“We
advanced a new approach to develop a laser that boasts as yet unparalleled
stability and precision, allowing us to conduct new experiments and open up new
realms of research,” said Professor Morandotti, who was elected a fellow by the
Optical Society of America and by the International Society for Optics and
Photonics (SPIE). “Plus, a multitude of applications may be created in biology,
medicine, materials processing, IT, high speed communications, and metrology.”

Scientists
are reporting development and successful testing of a fabric coating that would
give new meaning to the phrase “stain-resistant” — a coating that would take an
active role in sloughing off grease, dirt, strong acids and other gunk. The
report, which shows that the coating is even more water-repellent than car wax
or Teflon, appears in ACS’ journal Langmuir.

(April 25,
2012) Advertisers
and public health officials may be able to access hidden wisdom in the brain to
more effectively sell their products and promote health and safety, UCLA
neuroscientists report in the first study to use brain data to predict how
large populations will respond to advertisements.

Thirty
smokers who were trying to quit watched television commercials from three
advertising campaigns, which all ended by showing the phone number of the
National Cancer Institute's smoking-cessation hotline. They were asked which
commercials they thought would be most effective; they responded that
advertising campaigns "A" and "B" would be the best and
"C" would be the worst.

The UCLA
researchers also consulted experts who work in the anti-smoking field and who
have been involved in creating anti-smoking advertisements. These experts
agreed that campaigns "A" and "B" were the best and
"C" was the worst.

While the
smokers watched the advertisements, they underwent functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans at UCLA's Ahmanson–Lovelace Brain Mapping
Center, and the neuroscientists focused on part of the medial prefrontal cortex
— located in the front of the brain, between the eyebrows — a region that they
have found to be especially important in previous persuasion studies.

The
researchers found that activity in the medial prefrontal cortex increased much
more during advertising campaign "C" than it did during campaign
"A," and somewhat more than it did during campaign "B."

(April 26, 2012) Berries are good for you, that’s no secret.
But can strawberries and blueberries actually keep your brain sharp in
old age? A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) finds
that a high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and
blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5
years. This study is published by Annals
of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child
Neurology Society, on April 26, 2012.

“What makes
our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of
time. No other berry study has been conducted on such a large scale,” explained
Elizabeth Devore, a researcher in the Channing Laboratory at BWH, who is the lead
author on this study. “Among women who consumed 2 or more servings of
strawberries and blueberries each week we saw a modest reduction in memory
decline. This effect appears to be
attainable with relatively simple dietary modifications.”

Koss
Introduces STRIVA: World’s First Wi-Fi Headphone System To Receive Music
Directly From the Internet

(April 25, 2012) Koss Corporation, the
U.S.-based creator of the world’s first SP3 Stereophone in 1958, has unveiled
STRIVA, a revolutionary new headphone and in-ear monitor system with Wi-Fi
technology that receives music directly from the internet without wires.

“54 years
ago my father revolutionized personal listening with the first Koss SP3
stereophone,” Michael J. Koss, President and CEO said. “Today, thanks to the
Internet, the revolution is in the air. Now all of your favorite music can be
streamed directly from the Internet to our new headphones and in-ear monitors
without wires using Koss STRIVA technology.”

(April 24,
2012) A
plug-and-play PV system is envisioned as a consumer friendly solar technology
that uses an automatic detection system to initiate communication between the
solar energy system and the utility when plugged into a PV-ready circuit.

If you have
a home computer, you have probably used plug-and-play technology to install new
hardware like printers or web cams. Many of today’s smart phones also
incorporate this technology. You simply connect the new device to launch an
automatic configuration process and, within minutes, your system is set up and
ready to go.

We signed a
contract signed today with Great Wall Motor Company to co-develop an electric
vehicle for the global distribution. The first vehicle model will be decided in
the near future, but we plan to make it the most affordable EV on the market
(comparable to entry-level internal combustion engine vehicles).

(April 25, 2012) In response
to growing market demand for wireless charging systems for electric vehicles
and industrial systems, IHI Corp. of Tokyo, Japan has entered into a long-term
collaboration and commercialization agreement with WiTricity Corporation of
Watertown, Massachusetts.

As a result
of this agreement, IHI is licensed by WiTricity to manufacture and supply
wireless charging systems for automotive and industrial applications on a
global basis. In addition, the companies will collaborate to accelerate the
development of the technology, and to promote international standards for
wireless charging systems.

MIT
PROFESSOR: 10 Predictions About The World My Grandchildren Will Inherit

What will
the world look like in 100 years?

(April 4, 2012) Daron
Acemoglu, an economist at MIT, pondered this question as he awaited the birth
of his son. His new paper considers political, social and economic trends from
the past hundred years and then makes projections for the future.

Acemoglu
offers a dark vision of rising inequality and pollution, but he also sees
positives like improving healthcare.

CHAMPAIGN,
Ill. — Real-time, 3-D microscopic tissue imaging could be a revolution for
medical fields such as cancer diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and
ophthalmology. University of Illinois researchers have developed a technique to
computationally correct for aberrations in optical tomography, bringing the
future of medical imaging into focus.

The
computational technique could provide faster, less expensive and higher
resolution tissue imaging to a broader population of users. The group describes
its technique this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.

April 24, 2012

(April 24, 2012) Are you fed up of having to change your summer tyres for winter tyres at the
first sign of snow? Or of being caught out on a long car journey by sudden
changes in the weather?

That may
soon be a thing of the past, according to a group of researchers at Leipzig
university, who are developing the world's first-ever "intelligent"
tyre which automatically adapts itself to the prevailing weather conditions
even while you are driving.

A team of
researchers headed by Detlef Riemer at the University of Applied Sciences in
Leipzig unveiled the "adaptive tyre" at this year's Hanover Fair, the
world's biggest industrial fair taking place in the north German city this
week.

China is a
country of extremes. European cars swerve through traffic barely missing
battered Soviet-era motorcycles laden with bounties of plastic and metal
recyclables. College students carrying iPads walk past street vendors selling
15 cent eggs in various states of decomposition. While this clear dichotomy is
understandable considering the rapid growth of modern China’s economy over a
relatively short time period, it is no less startling. And nowhere is this
coexistence of extremes more apparent than in China’s official economic policy:
a “socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics.”

Fungi get a
bad rap, but they can actually be quite useful. German researchers are
developing new ways of using fungus to clean soil and water.

Fungi have
earned their reputation as a homeowner's nightmare. Once they've settled into
wood and been exposed to moisture, all that's left are brittle remains that
turn into dust at the slightest touch.

Fungi get
their destructive abilities from enzymes that break down lignin, a complex
chemical compound that is largely responsible for holding wood together.
Enzymes in fungi, including the so-called laccase enzyme, are among the few
compounds capable of decomposing lignin.

B tapping
into the power of these enzymes, German scientists are finding new ways to use
fungi to break down toxins, including at sewage treatment plants.

(April 23,
2012) Researchers
at Glasgow University say they've developed a way for people to print their own
pills at home, reports Fast Co. Exist's Ariel Schwartz.

Using a
printer specially designed to create "reactionware" – the capsules
pharmacists stuff with medicine – the
researchers were able to program the chemicals used in the vessels directly
into the machine

New
technique may help severely damaged nerves regrow and restore function

(April 24, 2012) Engineers
at the University of Sheffield have developed a method of assisting nerves
damaged by traumatic accidents to repair naturally, which could improve the
chances of restoring sensation and movement in injured limbs.

In a
collaborative study with Laser Zentrum Hannover (Germany) published today (23
April 2012) in the journal Biofabrication, the team describes a new method for
making medical devices called nerve guidance conduits or NGCs.

The method
is based on laser direct writing, which enables the fabrication of complex
structures from computer files via the use of CAD/CAM (computer aided
design/manufacturing), and has allowed the research team to manufacture NGCs
with designs that are far more advanced than previously possible.

(April 24, 2012) Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "the joint venture") is a joint venture established by BYD Auto, a leader in China’s EV industry, and Daimler AG, the world’s preeminent maker of premium vehicles. The joint venture is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.

The joint venture launched China’s first auto brand dedicated exclusively to electric cars: DENZA. It concentrates on the R&D in electric automotive technologies, specializes in producing high-quality, eco-friendly electric cars that are safe and convenient to use, and strives to be the most successful manufacturer, and promoter, of alternative-fuel vehicles in China.

April 23, 2012

(April 23, 2012) Louis
Vuitton watch-wear pushes two editions for the 2012 America’s Cup. The Tambour
Regate Automatic and Quartz timepieces come in editions of 1851 and 750 units
respectively. Each of the special editions features a stainless black PVD and
rubber case sitting at around 44mm in size. Water resistant to 100 meters, the
choice between the two comes down to your choice in movement: the quartz
movement includes both countdown and alarm while the automatic ups the ante
with a flyback complication and 42 hours of power reserve. The color hits look
great on these from Louis Vuitton.

(April 23, 2012) Influential
skeptics continue to challenge the scientific consensus that CO2 emissions are
responsible for climate change. Have they got a point?

In January
this year, 16 scientists wrote in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that they saw
no scientific arguments supporting the need for urgent action to combat climate
change. They
included prominent climate skeptics like MIT Atmospheric Science professor
Richard Lindzen as well as the scientists, and former ExxonMobil employees,
Roger Cohen and William Happer.

Even in
Germany, where climate skeptics have less political influence than countries
like the USA, a book called "Die kalte Sonne" (The Cold Sun) has been
making waves since its publication earlier this year. The authors
Fritz Vahrenholt und Sebastian Lüning, employees of Germany's second-biggest
energy company RWE, maintain that less than half the world's warming to date is
human-made. They say solar activity, sunspots and magnetic fields, which change
in cycles, are responsible.

(April 23, 2012) Wind energy
supplies 3 percent of global electricity needs and will soon supply more
electricity than nuclear power. In 2011, some 50 billion euros were invested in
wind, leading some to say it's cheap and creates jobs.

Wind energy
is booming and it is gaining in significance worldwide. It supplies some 20 percent
of electricity in Spain and Denmark as well as about 10 percent in Germany. By
2020, the share of wind energy will have risen to between 20 percent and 25
percent in Germany, according to estimates.

April 22, 2012

(April 22, 2012) Who
invented the very first EV is uncertain and several inventors have been given
credit. In 1828, Hungarian, Ányos Jedlik invented a small-scale model car
powered by an electric motor that he designed. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact
year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude
electric-powered carriage. In 1835, another small-scale electric car was
designed by Professor Stratingh of Groningen, Holland, and built by his assistant
Christopher Becker. In 1835, Thomas Davenport, a blacksmith from Brandon,
Vermont, built a small-scale electric car. Davenport was also the inventor of
the first of the first American-built DC electric motor.

A century
ago, more automobiles were powered by electricity than by gasoline.

(April 22, 2012) But the
need for longer travel ranges, the availability of a more affordable fuel
source and a reliable power infrastructure soon turned internal combustion
engines into the predominant means of motor transportation.

Now drivers
are considering a move away from gasoline and back to electricity as an ideal
source for automotive power, but big challenges remain. IBM and partners are
working on solving one of the biggest barriers to widespread electric vehicle
adoption: limited battery range.

April 21, 2012

What do you
say to a state which is on a dream run? The state’s tourism is promoted by
Amitabh Bachchan, its infrastructure for the automobile industry is geared
towards making it the Detroit of Indiaand now the state has launched Asia’a
largest solar park. Yes, we’re talking about Gujarat.

As a part
of the Swarnim Gujarat celebrations, the Solar Park has been launched at
Charanka village, Santalpur taluka in Patan district. This patch of desert was
hitherto unutilized and completely barren has now been adorned with the solar
park which will yield invaluable benefits to the state, the nations and the
coming generations.

(April 21, 2012) Cadillac is road testing a semi-autonomous technology it calls “Super Cruise”
that is capable of fully automatic steering, braking and lane-centering in
highway driving under certain optimal conditions. The system could be ready for
production vehicles by mid-decade.

Super
Cruise is designed to ease the driver’s workload on the freeway, in both
bumper-to-bumper traffic and on long road trips by relying on a fusion of radar,
ultrasonic sensors, cameras and GPS map data.

“Super
Cruise has the potential to improve driver performance and enjoyment,” said Don
Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing. “Our goal with advanced
technologies, like this and our CUE system, is to lead in delivering an
intuitive user experience.”

(April 21, 2012) Despite the
lackluster sales of electric vehicles in China, the nation may still become a
global leader in the electric vehicle industry if policymakers and
manufacturers shift their focus from battery-electric vehicles toward a
mid-term perspective concentrating on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, said
the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

The US
company's prediction came in its report Recharging China's Electric Vehicle
Aspirations released on Friday, which was based on interviews with more than 30
policymakers, industry leaders and experts.

(April 21, 2012) Consumer
tastes are changing at a greater rate than ever before. Not surprisingly, the
purchasing habits of the youngest generation present the most dramatic shifts —
a reflection of what they find important. 24/7 Wall St. has identified eight
popular products that the “Facebook generation” is not buying.

Generation
Y, generally defined as those born between 1980 and 1999, have lost interest in
many of the services and products their parents found important. For example,
younger Americans are less interested in cars. In 1998, 64.4% of potential
drivers 19-years old and younger had drivers licenses. By 2008, that rate had
dropped to 46.3%, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

(April 21, 2012) Robust
quantitative groundwater maps for Africa were developed to highlight areas more
likely to be resilient to climate change and also where sufficient groundwater
resources may be available to help adaptation.

The maps
are the first produced for Africa and are underpinned by dedicated case studies
and systematic data/literature reviews.

April 20, 2012

First DENZA
concept car will be unveiled at the 2012, 12th Auto China in Beijing.

Time:April
23rd-May 2nd

Location:Pavilion
E4

DAIMLER AND
BYD LAUNCH THE NEW DENZA BATTERY-CAR BRAND, DEBUTING AT THE BEIJING MOTOR SHOW

(April 20, 2012) Hoping to
take advantage of China’s potentially huge battery-car market, Daimler will launch
the new Denza brand with its Chinese partner, BYD.

A concept
car hinting at what’s to come from the 50/50 joint venture will make its
appearance, later this month at the 2012 Beijing Motor Show. Production is set to begin in 2013, the
partners revealed, adding that the new Denza brand’s slogan will be “EV the
Future.”

“We have the ideal partner in Daimler. BYD
provides experience in battery technology and e-drive systems, as well as
bringing EVs into operation on the streets of China,” said BYD’s president,
Wang Chuanfu. “In connection with Daimler’s design of premium autos, know-how
in electric vehicle architecture and safety, and more than 125 years of
experience in automotive excellence, DENZA is on the right track to become the
leader in the New Energy Vehicle market in China.”

(April 20, 2012) BYD announced the QIN concept vehicle, an hybrid electric car, more responsive than
F3DM, capable ot going from 0 - 100 Km/h in 6.9 seconds (F3DM did it in 10.5
seconds). It will be also more efficient on the electric energy consumption, as
QIN will do 50 Km using only 10kWh. For comparison, F3DM did 60Km using 60Kwh.
There is no date yet as of when this vastly improved hybrid car will go for
sale, but the suggested price will be about U$S 30.000.

(April 20, 2012) Berkshire
Hathaway's David Sokol with BYD's Wang Chuanfu in Detroit (Reuters)Buffett on
BoardBYD, the Chinese battery maker-turned-automaker that stunned the world
with the first mass-market electric plug-in car late last year, remains
something of a wild card. The car, the F3DM, goes 62 miles on a single charge
-- farther than other electric vehicles -- and sells for around $22,000, less
than the plug-in Prius and much-hyped Chevy Volt are expected to cost when they
come out in late 2010. But a number of questions remain, like when the car will
come to the US (if at all), and how safe are its batteries.

CHINESE EV
MAKER BYD TO LAUNCH ITS ELECTRIC CAR IN THE USA
IN 2012 WITH HERTZ FLEET AS A CLIENT

Hertz will
offer Chinese Electric Vehicle maker BYD a boost in its attempts to penetrate
the U.S. market with its E6 electric model. The BYD E6 EV was presented at
Hertz’s booth at the 2012 New York auto show. BYD has already put in place its
North American headquarters in downtown L.A and supplied a fleet of E6 EVs to
the Los Angeles City Housing Authority.

April 19, 2012

The digitisation of manufacturing will transform the way goods are made—and change the politics of jobs too.

THE first industrial revolution began in Britain in the late 18th century, with the mechanisation of the textile industry. Tasks previously done laboriously by hand in hundreds of weavers’ cottages were brought together in a single cotton mill, and the factory was born. The second industrial revolution came in the early 20th century, when Henry Ford mastered the moving assembly line and ushered in the age of mass production. The first two industrial revolutions made people richer and more urban. Now a third revolution is under way. Manufacturing is going digital. As this week’s special report argues, this could change not just business, but much else besides.

April 18, 2012

(April 18, 2012) The automaker says soon all its cars will be compatible with gas, electric, and hybrid drivetrains.

Ford is preparing for an era when choosing whether a new car is powered by gas, electricity, or both is as simple as choosing its color is.

All future models from the automaker will be designed so that they can be produced with gas, electric, or hybrid drivetrains, a strategy embodied by the Ford Focus Electric, made available for the first press test drives last week. While GM and Nissan designed their first all-electric mass production cars from scratch, Ford is essentially using a 2010 design with the gas guts switched for electric ones.

A German company borrows the materials and manufacturing process of OLED displays to make a new kind of solar panel.

(April 18, 2012) A startup in Germany has developed a new kind of solar panel made of small, organic molecules deposited on polyester films. The technology is similar to what's used for OLED displays for phones and flat-screen TVs. The panels are flexible, and far lighter than conventional solar panels, yet in some locations—particularly where it's hot or cloudy—they can generate just as much electricity as a conventional solar panel.

(April 18, 2012) More than 50 years of genetics work to increase loblolly pine production in the Southeast has improved the trees’ ability to act as carbon sinks that mitigate climate change, according to a new study by North Carolina State University researchers.

“We’ve been working to create trees that grow faster and produce more wood, and what this research shows is that at the same time we’re enhancing environmental quality by scrubbing as much carbon out of the atmosphere as we possibly can,” says Dr. John King, an NC State forest ecologist and co-author of a paper published this month in the journal Forest Science.

April 17, 2012

(April 17, 2012) Looking for an inexpensive and effective way to quickly improve the quality of your drinking water? According to a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, sunlight and a twist of lime might do the trick. Researchers found that adding lime juice to water that is treated with a solar disinfection method removed detectable levels of harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) significantly faster than solar disinfection alone. The results are featured in the April 2012 issue of American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

April 16, 2012

AESTHATIC APPEAL MAY HAVE NEUROLOGICAL LINK TO CONTEMPLATION AND SELF-ASSESSMENT, NYU RESEARCHERS FIND

(April 16, 2012) A network of brain regions which is activated during intense aesthetic experience overlaps with the brain network associated with inward contemplation and self-assessment, New York University researchers have found. Their study sheds new light on the nature of the aesthetic experience, which appears to integrate sensory and emotional reactions in a manner linked with their personal relevance.

The study’s co-authors were: Edward Vessel, a researcher in NYU’s Center for Brain Imaging; Gabrielle Starr, an associate professor in NYU’s Department of English; and Nava Rubin, an associate professor in NYU’s Center for Neural Science. It appears in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience and may be downloaded here.

April 15, 2012

(April 15, 2012) SIM-Drive Corp, a Japan-based firm that develops electric vehicles (EVs), announced that it has completed the "SIM-WIL," the second vehicle for its advanced development project.

The company has been engaged in the development since January 2011. The project is for prototyping vehicles to be commercialized in about 2014 and participated by 34 companies/organizations that are planning to launch EV businesses in the future.

The amount of battery mounted on the SIM-WIL is larger than that of the "SIM-LEI," the first vehicle for the advanced development project, and the EV has a drive range of 351km (approx 218 miles) per charge. In its B-segment body (4,150 (L) x 1,715 (W) x 1,550mm (H)), an in-car space equivalent to that of an E-segment vehicle was realized, SIM-Drive said. Also, it can accelerate from zero to 100km/h (approx 62.1mph) in 5.4 seconds, which is equivalent to the acceleration performance of a middle-grade sports car.

April 13, 2012

(April 13, 2012) The Boeing Co. is developing a mobile phone based on the Android operating system that will compete with other manufacturers offering highly secure communication devices, company officials said April 10.

Roger Krone, president of Boeing Network and Space Systems, told reporters in Arlington, Va., that this was probably the first time the aerospace and defense industry giant will offer a communication device designed to use cellular networks.

The company is near the end of the development cycle and getting ready to launch what he called “the Boeing phone” in late 2012, said Brian Palma, vice president of the company’s secure infrastructure group.

About Me

Graduated from University of Marmara, Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Design of Industrial Products and completed her dissertation titled "A Review on the Effects of the Trends & Periods on the Structural Constructions on the Products That are Associated With Consumer Electronics" in the same department for her Master’s Degree.

Lectured at University of Anatolia, Department of Industrial Products on part-time basis. Currently, she has been lecturing on part-time basis Faculty of Arts & Science, Department of Industrial Products Design at University of Doğuş.

She was the Head of ETMK Istanbul Branch from February 2010 to June 2011.

She took part in many competitions and projects as a member of advisory board and jury. Currently, she is the acting executive officer coordinating various projects between the Industry and University at the company where she is employed.

ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE:

This blog is created and owned by Özlem Devrim.

TrendsSoul is about all interdisciplinary topics. This blog simply follows all publications worldwide in architecture, science and technology as well as sustainable designs. In doing that, Trendsoul gathers all the news (current or past), which in the view of TrendsSoul possess tips and hints that may influence or have effects on futuristic trends whilst at the same time establishing current trends, and evaluates the same.

On its pages, TrendsSoul publishes the latest news on innovations in science and technology, as well as the latest / newest designs and/or design samples in the disciplines of plastic arts, fashion and jewellery designs, furniture and interior decoration designs, packaging designs and industrial designs (along with the initial specific samples some of which today are considered as antiques).

Purpose of TrendsSoul is simply to assist all concerned individuals and groups who try to foresee what the future may bring or may be holding in store for us in the discipline of design, just like we do at TrendsSoul.

LEGAL WARNING ON THE CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE:

This blog is a non-commercial website. Whole content of this website is for inspirational purposes only. Photographs, that are published In this website and registered for the name of Özlem Devrim in Picasa Web Album, are personally shot by Özlem Devrim with the permission of their respective owners and/or copyright holders. Those photographs, that are published in Picasa Web Album and on this site in lower resolutions than actual, may be used for non-commercial purposes and relevant reference as to the actual source is provided.

Please also take note that all rights and/or copyrights for other photographs and visual materials, which are currently published on this site that are not shot by Özlem Devrim and therefore not published under Picasa Web Album, belongs to their respective owners. Such materials that are or may be reported as to infringe copyrights are removed forthright.

Also note that, regardless of whether the copyrights belong to Özlem Devrim or any third party person or entity, if you ever wish to or would like to use any of the materials published on this site for commercial purposes, you must by law first get in touch with the actual copyright owner in order to have his/her permission to use.